Life is difficult...all by itself. I do not need to add to that difficulty with a sour and unfortunate disposition. Believe me, I have faced many, MANY challenges in my life...some that would prompt others to adopt the life of a hermit in a fallout shelter somewhere deep in the earth. I just refuse to let things get me down...at least not for long. Don't get me wrong, I certainly feel sad or angry or lonely from time to time...but I don't dwell in those emotions. When we allow ourselves to become bitter and negative, the world around us will also become bitter and negative. Negativity is one of the most contagious illnesses that exists in our world today. Allow me to give you an example from my everyday life.
I get up and the day automatically starts out badly. I stub my toe on the way to the bathroom...can't find anything to wear...burn myself with the curling iron...spill my coffee...car won't start...you name it. I get to school and there are kids lined up at my door needing me for one thing or another and they are all talking at once. I can barely get my things put away...getting ready for 1st hour is not even on the radar. The first bell rings and I am flustered because the morning has been so crazy. My class is rowdy and won't cooperate...so I snap at them. They were in perfectly fine moods...until I came along. Now, each of them is having (at the very least) a terrible 1st hour. They take their upset attitudes that I gave them to their 2nd hour class...thus sharing my negative attitude with other faculty...and so on and so on throughout the day. I get home and I am just as unhappy as I was when I left at 7:00am. My husband then begins to feel the impact of my stinky attitude. I could go on and on and on.
When things started to go all wonky, I had a choice. I chose to let those little instances influence my entire day. I chose to take my frustrations out on others instead of choosing to be as positive as possible. I recently rewatched the movie Pollyanna. In this movie, the title character takes a negative town and turns it upside down with gladness. She plays the "Glad Game." I think we all would benefit from playing the "Glad Game" every now and again. When something negative happens, think of something to be glad of. For example, when I stubbed my toe I could have stopped and been glad that I didn't break my foot...or that I was even blessed to wake up in the first place.
Life is all about choices. Choose to put your happy pants on. :)
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